


I Am Here To Stay

by Lutrosis



Category: Lady Macbeth (2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Freedom, Gen, Katherine Lester is wife goals, Loneliness, Portraying Katherine Lester as the feminist icon that she is, Post-Canon Fix-It, Pregnancy, Redemption, Short One Shot, Unplanned Pregnancy, but if she kills me dont try to prosecute her she caught me slipping and thats on me, especially because she is flawed, even if she is flawed, well at least kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25134784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lutrosis/pseuds/Lutrosis
Summary: Katherine Lester has to manage surviving on her own in the big Lester-mansion without any servants. She also has to prepare for her pregnancy. What is her state of mind? What is she doing? How will she cope?A post-canon fix-it for the movie Lady Macbeth (2016).
Kudos: 1





	I Am Here To Stay

**Author's Note:**

> Go and watch the movie! It's awesome. Florence Pugh's acting is riveting, a truly beautiful performance.

Katherine stood atop the stairs and observed the remaining servants leaving the mansion. Agnes had gone with the police to see justice carried out against Sebastian and Anna. Katherine wandered through the empty house, remnants of the servants still lingering in the air. She had no plan for this situation – she hadn’t had a plane since before she was forced to marry Alexander Lester.

Everything she had done, was more an action emanating at the moment. Killing her father-in-law took a little bit of planning but creating the poison and mixing it into his food was a matter of hours. Slaying Alexander was a spur of the moment reaction after he had behaved horribly. Killing Teddy – the act Katherine regretted most – was decided, when she was spiraling because she thought she was losing everything, that she had left. Incriminating Anna had to be done to save herself, Katherine justified her latest act.

Laying down on the sofa, she so often used, she thought about the coming days, weeks, months, and years. She had to survive somehow. A child was growing up inside of her – and she would protect it with her life. This child was hers and hers alone – no one would be allowed to harm it, to steal it from her.

She had gotten used to having servants around, to being tended to, to having help dressing in the morning. But now she had to revert doing everything by herself. However, Katherine knew she could face these problems head-on and solve them. She was resourceful. Whatever came between her and her future with her child, would be eliminated.

She decided to call it a day – tomorrow she could take stock of everything still in the mansion and planning her survival.

* * *

The next day she wandered around the grounds – she would have to let the stables and smaller building become ruins. She had no means of maintaining them and had no use for them. And it was doubtful if she would ever be able to hire servants again – she had learned that she couldn’t trust anyone, there was no way she would allow other people living close to her, who could harm her.

The food storage was well filled. Obviously, the servants hadn’t taken much – if anything – with them. They probably feared prosecution, if they would have stolen goods in big quantities. All the better for her. Humming a little song, Katherine takes count of the various foods, before she resumes her way through the house. She decides on closing certain sections of it, that she won't need in the future. With a supreme effort, she pushes furniture in front of the doors that she wished to stay closed.

She would have to plant vegetables and other articles of food in the garden - there was no way she would be able to use all the fields, that were part of the property, but she also didn't have to. Right now she was one person - and in a short time, they would only be two. The house could be sustained by one person, Katherine decided - and hoped. She wasn't glad to have to go through her pregnancy alone - but she would make do, she had to. It would be a risk, but nothing would stop her, nothing would put itself in her path - at least not for long -, nothing could kill her.

* * *

The following days and weeks were filled with preparing the garden and the house to accommodate her living by herself in it. She was glad, that no one seemed to come near the house. Even the policemen didn't show up again. Katherine's belly only grew slightly, which she was glad about, because it allowed her to do all the chores, that she had to - although the morning sickness was annoying her. She supposed it could be worse, but she wished she could just kill her morning sickness or make it disappear a different way, like all the other problems she had encountered.

She wasn't haunted by her past actions, even the killing of Teddy hadn't brought her nightmares, yet she regretted, that she had done it. She had bonded with the little boy, but Sebastian had totally overreacted when he threatened to leave her because of him. She was furious, that she had let herself be pushed to this act. Even if she enjoyed the silence of the mansion, she would have liked a little bit of company in the form of the young kid. He and her child could have grown up together - and if his grandmother would have caused problems, she would have handled it.

Katherine let her frustration fuel her determination to make it through the coming months. She would need every last bit of strength and motivation to bring her small child into the world. Not being able to wear her beautiful dresses was a bit of a loss, but at the same time Katherine enjoyed, that she hadn't had to wear corsets anymore, could move through the mansion as she wished, could enjoy the fresh air outside without anyone around observing her or commenting on her behavior.

She had paid dearly for her freedom, but it was hers now and no one would take it away from her. The future belonged to her and her child.


End file.
